COLIN BLUNSTONE @ ST ALBANS CATHEDRAL

For one-night only, Colin Blunstone performed a solo show on All Hallows Eve in the quiet grandeur of St Albans Cathedral, which was lit with hundreds of candles for the occasion, and formed part of the band’s own annual ‘Begin Here’ festival: a fan pilgrimage back to their hometown where it all began. He performed his solo set which he has been touring across America of recent and, before that, nationwide across the UK.

This was a one-off show with guests including his lifelong friend and bandmate, Rod Argent, their first time playing live together again since Argent announced he was leaving the Zombies in 2024 and the band officially disbanded following his stroke. Together with his backing band of the Strawbs’ Dave Bainbridge (keyboard) and Zombies’ guitarist Søren Koch (acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Blunstone’s set opened with ‘Mystified’; a rarely performed Zombies’ song with clunky ragtime piano and scratchy acoustic guitar. He next sang the band’s cover of George Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’, which was recently re-released on remastered mono on the band’s debut album, ‘Begin Here’; its light, tap dancing keys galloping into Bainbridge’s solo. He also sang the suspenseful ‘I Want to Fly’, from the band’s 2004 ‘As Far As I Can See…’ studio album.

The raindrop, gothic keys trickled in the more baritone vocals of ‘I Remember When I Loved Her’, another great example of the uniqueness of Argent’s songwriting and which also featured on the track list of the debut album; similarly, Argent’s song, ‘Hung up on a Dream’, after which the band’s documentary film is named, was beautified by its kaleidoscopic, sunlight flecked keys. Special guest Russ Ballard was then welcomed onstage on his birthday to play keyboard for his own song, ‘I Don’t Believe in Miracles’, which appeared on the Zombies’ 2004 album and which he sang in harmony with Blunstone on backing vocals.

From his debut solo album, ‘One Year’, which Blunstone has previously toured, he sang ‘Caroline Goodbye’, with the additional backing of the string quartet, ‘Q-Strings’, whom he has been performing on tour with in recent years. Quivering strings meshed with keys formed the cinematic and temperamental, ‘Though You Are Far Away’, layered with mystical atmospherics, it was the best live example of his solo work achieving classical ambience.

Argent made his triumphant return to stage at the end of the set to co-perform some classic Zombies’ material that he himself wrote, starting with the band’s 1964 debut and chart topping single, ‘She’s Not There’, featuring his rumbling keyboard solo of which he played two more in ‘Time of the Season’; its rhythmic keys ending in dramatic crescendo that brought tears to the audience in what may be his last live performance and of Zombies’ material. They closed the set on a third song, the ponderous ‘The Way I Feel Inside’, also from the band’s debut album, warmly embracing as they departed the stage.

31/10/26: Colin Blunstone @ St Albans Cathedral.